Blackfish Review: Let them be wild

“In November 2015, SeaWorld announced plans to end killer-whale shows at its theme park in San Diego. In March 2016, SeaWorld announced it would end its orca breeding program and begin to phase out all live performances using orcas.” Kay, Jennifer – “SeaWorld to Stop Breeding Orcas, Making Them Perform Tricks”., ). Fais, Scott”SeaWorld San Diego ending killer whale shows, Orlando park to expand” The documentary “Blackfish” directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite shows the truth behind what SeaWorld is doing to the Orcas. This documentary will change the way you think of Orcas in captivity as well as other creatures.

This film provides the audience with graphic scenes of these creatures being treated poorly. These Orcas were captured at a very early age, the scene of the baby orca being taken from its mother really makes you feel sad. Just knowing that these people are taking a family member away from their loved ones just for the display of an ocean creature. Just think about what they could be doing instead of being stuck in a tiny tank compared to the giant ocean.

According to frontiersin.org, Blackfish is “Arguably one of the most impactful and successful documentary films, Blackfish fundamentally contributed to the elimination of SeaWorld’s breeding program in less than 3 years.” Certain artists have canceled their performances at SeaWorld because of Blackfish, the way this documentary was filmed was filmed perfectly to forward the information to the audience and caused protests for the animal’s rights outside SeaWorld.

“Cowperthwaite interviews numerous ex-trainers who speak with deep affection about the whales they’ve worked with, yet also visible guilt and profound conviction about having helped exploit them for human entertainment.” (Chang) variety.com. Even though these trainers try to make the situation seem better, they are still guilty of what they had to do. SeaWorld most likely forced them to say what they wanted them to say with things like contracts, etc.
activist Howard Garrett also advances his expert view of orcas as naturally friendly, highly emotional creatures that need the freedom of the open seas (tellingly, they’ve never been known to attack humans in the wild). This just adds to the fact that Orcas do not belong in a fish tank.
“The film then builds a compelling psychological profile of Tilikum, who, after being captured in 1983, was held at a now-defunct Canadian theme park called Sealand of the Pacific. There, he was subjected to uniquely abusive training techniques and frequently “raked,” or attacked, by two older female whales in his tank (the grisly evidence of which is plain to see in the close up footage presented here). Tilikum’s first human victim was a young Sealand trainer, Keltie Byrne, who slipped into the tank, was attacked by the three whales, and eventually drowned.” (Chang) variety.com. Tilikum the Orca was sent away to this canadian theme park to be trained with techniques of abuse, starvation, and bullying of other Orcas. Just imagine being in Tilikum’s Point of view. This documentary shows graphic footage of blood, bullying of Tilikum, and the trainer is also killed by the three whales, this shows the anger, frustration of the creatures from how they’re treated. How can you not be angry being held in a fish tank forced to perform for an audience or else be tortured your whole life?

“In the wild, orcas swim upward of 100 miles per day. But at SeaWorld and other marine parks around the world, orcas are forced to swim in tiny circles to amuse tourists and spend the majority of their lives virtually motionless in concrete tanks that are the human equivalent of a bathtub. Their important matriarchal bonds are broken when babies are taken from their mothers and sold or transferred to other parks, and captive orcas live only a fraction of their average life span.” (Heather Murphy) Ocean Advocate seaworldofhurt.com Orcas are giant creatures that belong in the wide open ocean. Not a fish tank. Being in such a small tank they can’t even swim more than a couple hundred feet, when in the wild they should be swimming 100 or more miles per day. In the tank they would have to swim the circumference of the tank 1400 times to reach the equivalence of 100 miles.

Cowperthwaite has a very dramatic way to show the effects on the Orcas being taken away from their families, cruel techniques of the trainers to force the Orcas to perform for an audience, and I don’t think anyone could have shown this information in such a powerful way.

From growing up on an island I have learned that the Dolphin / Whale family is a very smart and kind species. They know how to trap their food and communicate with each other well. How can these giant animals that are captive in a fish tank accomplish these types of things? Some creatures aren’t meant to be held in aquariums and have their life be wasted away while they could be traveling the world with their giant families, especially a creature as smart and capable as an Orca.

“Cowperthwaite interviews numerous ex-trainers who speak with deep affection about the whales they’ve worked with, yet also visible guilt and profound conviction about having helped exploit them for human entertainment.”
(Chang et al.) variety.com. JANUARY 26, 2013 6:08PM PT. By: Justin Chang. With: John Hargrove, Samantha Berg, Jeffrey Ventre, John Jett, Mark Simmons, Dean Gomersall, Kim Ashdown, Carol Ray, Christopher Porter, Eric Walters, Steve Huxter, Ken Balcomb, Howard Garrett, Lori Marino, Dave Duffus, John Crowe, Suzanne Allee, Estefania Rodriguez, Mercedes Rodriguez. Google Scholar.
“The film then builds a compelling psychological profile of Tilikum, who, after being captured in 1983, was held at a now-defunct Canadian theme park called Sealand of the Pacific. There, he was subjected to uniquely abusive training techniques and frequently “raked,” or attacked, by two older female whales in his tank (the grisly evidence of which is plain to see in the closeup footage presented here). Tilikum’s first human victim was a young Sealand trainer, Keltie Byrne, who slipped into the tank, was attacked by the three whales, and eventually drowned.”variety.com
“In November 2015, SeaWorld announced plans to end killer-whale shows at its theme park in San Diego.
Fais, Scott (November 10, 2015). “SeaWorld San Diego ending killer whale shows, Orlando park to expand”. St. Petersburg, Florida: Bay News 9. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved November 16. wikipedia.org
“In March 2016, SeaWorld announced it would end its orca breeding program and begin to phase out all live performances using orcas.”
Kay, Jennifer (March 17, 2016). “SeaWorld to Stop Breeding Orcas, Making Them Perform Tricks”. Bloomberg. Retrieved March 17, 2016. wikipedia.org

“In the wild, orcas swim upward of 100 miles per day. But at SeaWorld and other marine parks around the world, orcas are forced to swim in tiny circles to amuse tourists and spend the majority of their lives virtually motionless in concrete tanks that are the human equivalent of a bathtub. Their important matriarchal bonds are broken when babies are taken from their mothers and sold or transferred to other parks, and captive orcas live only a fraction of their average life span.” (Heather Murphy) Ocean Advocate seaworldofhurt.com “Blackfish: The Documentary That Exposes SeaWorld”.